EEH Unison strikers and supporters marked 30 days of action this week with a buffet lunch (pic: @UNISON_TH on X)
Workers at East End Homes (EEH) in Tower Hamlets, east London, are fighting bosses’ plans to destroy their retirement futures.
The Unison union members, who are administrators, caretakers and housing officers at the housing association, struck for their 32nd day on Friday.
Bosses are trying to force them to shift from a defined benefit to a defined contribution pension scheme. It would see them lose thousands of pounds every year in retirement income.
Kerie Anne, branch secretary for Unison Tower Hamlets local government branch, told Socialist Worker that EEH is prepared to use “dismiss and re-engage”—also known as fire and rehire—to impose the detrimental contract changes.
EEH CEO Daniel Killian has now formally written to workers to inform them that if they don’t consent to the detrimental contract change by 3 September they will be dismissed.
The 30-day consultation period, the statutory minimum time frame for redundancies, began on 3 August.
Kerie Anne said that bosses had shown contempt for workers. They have even brought in agency workers to build a scab workforce to undermine the strike.
“They refused to meet with Unison reps for months to discuss staff concerns,” she said.
“They only agreed to meet once the situation had tipped into crisis and the union had been forced to declare a trade dispute.”
New legislation that will come into force in January 2027 as part of the Employment Rights Act will make it much harder for bosses to use these tactics. But until then, there is nothing in law that says bosses cannot treat workers this way. And they are making use of the window to force through the new contracts.
Paul, a Unison rep at EEH, told Socialist Worker, “The ERA was supposed to bring in legislation that would protect workers from unscrupulous employers using fire and rehire. But where’s this legislation’s teeth?
“The government’s backsliding, and the delaying of the implementation of those protections, has allowed EEH to fast-track fire and rehire while it’s still ‘legal’,” said Paul.
Despite unsuccessful negotiations via Acas, the government conciliation service, workers have not been deterred.
Earlier this month they handed out thousands of leaflets to EEH residents calling on them to stand together with workers in demanding the bosses drop the plans.
One striker, who is a facilities manager at EEH, told Socialist Worker he feels he can “hold his head high” because of the action members have taken.
He said the disrespect that he and his colleagues have been shown by EEH bosses has only made them more determined to fight on.
“We always knew that we had a fight on our hands. But we’ve had lots of support from residents who have been writing letters to management against the proposals.
“They’ve told us that they don’t feel listened to either,” he said. “And we know that there has been an increase in complaints since the strike began about the quality of the services being delivered without us.”
It is vital to support these workers in their fight against pension theft—and against fire and rehire. Stop by the picket lines and offer solidarity.
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